Fresh-Water Newbie

[King]

one thing, forums are for advice from people not the WORD OF GOD, i shouldnt have gotten more neons but i didnt figure the gold fish would eat them, they did, i lost money and learned a lesson, end of that conversation. i can do bigger than 50%. ..and not that it matters, im on here between doing paperwork for my 2 businesses, i will do a massive water change after the business day is over.. thnx..

 

[King]

i keep seeing .25 and i believe you guys saying thats bad, why does this test kit i have show 3 as being "stress" and 10 as being "danger" thats obviously not right, by what you all say even if it got to the 3 the fish would be dead, much less 10!?!? i dont care for this test kit, i read it is inaccurate and then if it shows 3 as "stress" the safety table is WAAAYY off..

i am going to do a 80-90 change this eve. i am not adding any more fish and i will not feed them near as much for a little while.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Could you please tell us which test you're using?

 

[King]

here you go =-)

and..

 

[This Old Spouse]

Okey doke. This uses test strips, and (don't hate me for saying this) they're pretty inaccurate. The best kits to use will have test tubes and liquid reagents that you have to add to your sample of tank water, shake up, wait some minutes, etc. There's the API Master Test kit which is pretty popular, but there are several others out there that use basically the same methods.

Sorry to put yet another hole in your fabric, but just the fact that you're still putting up with all our abuse tells me you want to do what's best for your fish!

 

[King]

hey i want to get this water straightened out, i have learned that these strips suck, i am going to try to go tonight and get a master kit as advised by several people. you guys arent "abusing" me lol. maybe one day i can help someone out when i get more experience.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I agree that forums are for advice, and the statements made are not to be taken as the word of God. However, in many cases, the folks advising you are speaking as the voice of experience. Many times the folks on here are advising you to prevent things that happened to them so that they don't happen to you as well.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Ok, the numbers do seem to be ppm. I vehemently disagree with their captions for the different values though. 0.50ppm nitrite is harmful, not "caution". Ultimately, things need to be made clearer on that test. ANY reading for ammonia or nitrite means that a water change is required, not just recommended. That is just irresponsible based on the part of the test kit maker. Certainly not your fault that you've been acting based on bad information. I would act according to the numbers the strip gives you for now though. So, we will have to assume that the 1 reading is accurate at 1ppm and a DRASTIC water change is in order. The bad news is that it will probably be even higher by the time you get home. Two massive water changes are required, I'm afraid.

 

[Miles_hot]

]King

I fear that your posting "tone" maybe misrepresenting you - calling the likes of KK a "fish geek" and nazi for giving your very sound advice isn't necessarily the best way of getting the help that you're asking for. Given the number of times that you've been told you need a liquid kit and to do massive water changes and the lack of posts showing that you've done it I can understand why people are saying that you're ignoring good advice. Maybe you are, maybe your not - maybe it's just your style and you don't realise that your SHOUTING at people who are trying to help?

In terms of the kit think of the fact that they can't write "deadly toxin" on it anywhere for fear of being either sued or accused of scaring people into buying dumb products etc.

To put your kit's warnings in perspective, think of things that get labelled in that way in our world:

Caution: cigarette (and the impact of images on the boxes)
Stress: abu ghraib techniques = stress impact

Maybe this helps, maybe it doesn't but either way you're either going to crack on with water changes or not - it's up to you

Miles

 

[King]

i have posted 5x now that i am doing massive water changes and i already got a master kit. can i try to get this water cleaned up??? lol. i guess im lucky i have freedom of speech. im not "harsh" but if you dont like it again go to another post

 

[King]

90% change complete

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Good stuff. What are your levels now?

 

[This Old Spouse]

And I had asked you what testing kit you were using, and you posted pictures of an amateur strip kit.

Once you get your API master test kit (liquid) and test the water tomorrow after doing your massive water changes, let us know what THOSE results are.

 

[King]

just got done, gonna check the levels shortly

spouse - i got a master kit today and did a 90% change just now

 

[This Old Spouse]

Excellent.